An experimental investigation was conducted on a United States Air Force owned Remotely Piloted Aircraft using a high-fidelity simulation program. The goal of this research was to apply the theoretical concept of periodic flight trajectory to a real-world aircraft to enhance the overall endurance of the aircraft. The simulation program incorporated rigid body equations of motion coupled with the aircraft control laws, an untrimmed aerodynamic model with flexible airframe increments, and a tabulated engine model based on the cycle deck. The six-degrees-of-freedom simulation program also incorporated the real aircraft control logic, modeled engine throttle rate limits and idle speed schedules with respect to different altitudes. The simulation program was validated using flight test data so the results delineated in this paper are considered representative of the actual aircraft. Four operationally representative periodic trajectories were developed within the flight envelope for simulation. The periodic flight trajectories were simulated at different aircraft weights to understand how the weight change afffeted the overall fuel savings. All the results were compared to a steady-state flight that was flown with same initial conditions to determine the endurance benefits. An endurance increase of 12.95% was discovered when compared to steady-state flight endurance.
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